Staying on Universal Property for the first time!

[hellonwheelz84]

Hello everyone!! We were planning to do a split Universal/Contemporary stay for my birthday this year but just can't swing the CR rates for October so we are doing a 4-night stay at the Aventura hotel!! We will be doing Universal 1 day park hopper, MK's Boo Bash on my birthday night, and Hollywood Studios/Epcot the next day.

I called the Aventura hotel and they said they don't take dining reservations. We want to have a good meal before our Boo Bash. I see that the hotel has quick service type dining from around the world, how good is the food, and what kind of options are there? I see that there is rooftop dining too? How does it work without reservations?

I heard from someone at the Aventura resort that if you go to the resort next door we could either walk or take the ferry to Universal or Citywalk can't quite remember. I heard you can go up to the rooftop area and watch Universal fireworks with no reservation?

We are Florida residents and will be driving. How much time should we allow to go from Aventura to MK, Aventura to Hollywood Studios(we plan on taking the ferry from Hollywood Studios to Epcot) and Aventura to Disney Springs(we plan on doing this check out day)

We plan on visiting Universal City Walk shopping and eating probably the day we check-in and maybe some more depending. At Aventura, how close are to the Universal City Walk area?

I am sorry for so many questions but we've always stayed on Disney property or the B Resort and it looks like to me Universal does things a bit differently. I am a big Harry Potter fan so that will be the main reason we are going to Universal.

Thank you!

 

[schumigirl]

Aventura`s Bar is decent for seeing fireworks from Universal and you can see the Disney fireworks too most nights. Yes, you don`t need to be sitting at a table or bar to be able to do this.

Food isn`t that great up there, but visit once for the views. We weren`t overly impressed by their food court but they do have a good selection of foods.

You can walk over to Sapphire to use the boats from there, it`s a short walk.

Takes us around 20 minutes to drive from the Royal Pacific/Sapphire to Disney Springs so add whatever it takes to go further onto the parks. Traffic dependent of course, use the Turkey Lake Road/Palm Parkway instead of the I4.

 

[mamapenguin]

Amatista is at Sapphire which is very close to Aventura. I would check out their menu, and if you like it make a reservation.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Really, just check out the City Walk restaurants. It is an easy trip over and lots of options there.

 

[cschaaf]

We plan on visiting Universal City Walk shopping and eating probably the day we check-in and maybe some more depending. At Aventura, how close are to the Universal City Walk area?

You can take the bus from Aventura to City Walk - it's probably less than 10 minutes. You could also walk to Sapphire Falls and take the boat to City Walk. I haven't taken the boat from there, but I'd guess it's at least a 10 minute ride.

 

[Grumpy92]

Aventura only has a food court, no full service restaurant. I would recommend going next door to Amatista in Sapphire Falls. You can make a reservation online or you might want to look at the menus for Jake's at RPR or even Citywalk. Sapphire Falls is very very close to Aventura so you could take the boat over. Frankly for food courts I like the CBBR Bayliner Diner, nice variety, no reservations. Here is a site with the menus https://touringplans.com/universal-orlando/dining/menus UO is very different from WDW you dont need reservations for dining to everything. I know it is hard to change that mindset.

If you take Turkey Lake/Palm Pkwy (road that runs behind CBBR) it takes about 15-20 mins. This brings us into the back of WDW or you can come on to property via Hotel Plaza Blvd. Avoid I4. Stop by the Gst Svc desk and they can give you a map and directions.

UO transportation - Aventura has a bus, they come more frequently then Disney buses, but we just walk over to the SF boat and take that to Citywalk. There is a walking path that connects CBBR, SF/Aventura, RPR to Citywalk. We walked from SF and it took us about 10 mins in a leisurely stroll.

I know it is hard to get used too but UO requires much less planning and reservations than WDW.

 

[hellonwheelz84]

Amatista is at Sapphire which is very close to Aventura. I would check out their menu, and if you like it make a reservation.

i checked it out and I LOVE the menu! Can we pick it up and bring it back to our hotel? Thinking about doing this before we head out to Boo Bash. I am disabled so I want to relax and chill in the the room before a long but fun night.

 

[hellonwheelz84]

Aventura only has a food court, no full service restaurant. I would recommend going next door to Amatista in Sapphire Falls. You can make a reservation online or you might want to look at the menus for Jake's at RPR or even Citywalk. Sapphire Falls is very very close to Aventura so you could take the boat over. Frankly for food courts I like the CBBR Bayliner Diner, nice variety, no reservations. Here is a site with the menus https://touringplans.com/universal-orlando/dining/menus UO is very different from WDW you dont need reservations for dining to everything. I know it is hard to change that mindset.

If you take Turkey Lake/Palm Pkwy (road that runs behind CBBR) it takes about 15-20 mins. This brings us into the back of WDW or you can come on to property via Hotel Plaza Blvd. Avoid I4. Stop by the Gst Svc desk and they can give you a map and directions.

UO transportation - Aventura has a bus, they come more frequently then Disney buses, but we just walk over to the SF boat and take that to Citywalk. There is a walking path that connects CBBR, SF/Aventura, RPR to Citywalk. We walked from SF and it took us about 10 mins in a leisurely stroll.

I know it is hard to get used too but UO requires much less planning and reservations than WDW.

I sure like the sounds of less planning! Thank you for all the links and information! We have a GPS in our van but we will be sure to ask for directions at the hotel!

 

[mamapenguin]

i checked it out and I LOVE the menu! Can we pick it up and bring it back to our hotel? Thinking about doing this before we head out to Boo Bash. I am disabled so I want to relax and chill in the the room before a long but fun night.

I don’t know if they do take out, but you could call and ask.